Back of the ‘Net: Oilers; Gossip Girls; Early Calder mentions; Stamkos and more…

Did anybody notice the Edmonton Oilers never changed their game after getting the lead with about six minuted to go against the Ducks? No sitting on the lead. No 1-4 in the neutral zone. Coach Tom Renney continued to send two forecheckers in deep.

How is it a coach who has never won a Stanley Cup or even a conference title can get a team to do that? And a coach who has, Randy “Elmer Fudd” Carlyle can’t?

The gossip girls, Eklund & Richardson, are focused on New Jersey, Montreal, Anaheim, Edmonton and Hollywood. I don’t believe any of it but it’s fun stuff.

Every now and then a hockey story can show us more about life than it does about hockey. Jim Kelley of Sportsnet.com who is dying of cancer shares his feelings, experiences and advice he received from Pat Burns.

espn.com is out with it’s new Power rankings for this holiday week. The leading climbers include the Avs 6 from 20, Coyotes 7th up from 18, Lightning are 10 from and the Blue Jackets are getting notice rated 9th up from 15. The Vancouver Canucks dropped 11 spots to 15 edging our Ducks who dropped 9 spots to 21. As expected the Hollywood Hosers are stumbling without Willie Mitchell.

Alex Kovalev became the third Russian hockey player to record 1000 points in the NHL on Monday night. No second assist to mark the milestone, Kovy earned his 1000th point on a PP goal of the all important first goal of the game. Ottawa beat the only team in NHL with a President who’s job description is sucking up to Hollywood.